Ten
by Jade Dagger
Summary: What started as a delayed contribution for the Ten for Ten iPod Shuffle challenge now gets random additions as I come up with them.
1. Chapter 1

**The Internet is For Porn- Avenue Q **

Kate narrowed her eyes at the sight of Ryan, Esposito and Castle all crowded around Ryan's computer. They were speaking in low voices, and Ryan was eagerly pointing out something with one hand as his other typed a series of keys. Within seconds, Esposito let out a barely constrained whoop and Castle just shifted back on his heels and smirked.

She knew, logically, that they had been going over video footage from the club murder. The guest of honor had been a popular figure and the next day there was no shortage of movies on YouTube, courtesy of the party goers.

However, the comment from months earlier about guys huddled around a computer and the involvement of porn is still forefront in her mind.

**Run-George Strait**

Kate stared out the window of her apartment as the rain fell. Now that she was alone, she could admit it to herself. She missed Richard Castle. She missed his input on her cases, his wit, his ability to think outside the box and bring a completely new perspective to, well...everything. Most of all she just missed him. She missed the way he made her feel, his comments, his expressions; with just a glance, it was like he could see into her very soul.

Rick had been out of town for the past week, and it would still be another week until he returned to New York. The first Nikki Heat novel had hit the shelves about a month ago, and with its success came the book tours. She had forgotten that even though he spent an inordinate amount of time hanging around, he DID have his own actual job. This tour took him down the East Coast, and there would be more. Next month, he would start in LA and make his way back east. It wasn't something Kate was looking forward to.

She looked over to the small island bar in her kitchen, where she had brought up his tour schedule on her laptop. He was in Savannah now, there was a signing that afternoon. A quick glance at the clock told her that it would have ended about an hour ago. Sighing, she collapsed on her couch and dropped her head back against it.

Only moments later, she was startled out of her reverie when her cell shrilled from the coffee table. Reaching for it, her eyebrows popped up when Castle's name showed up on the display. She didn't hesitate when she answered.

**Big Star- Kenny Chesney**

"Kate Beckett?" the woman asked, narrowing her eyes at the detective that had come to see her about a friend's death. "I know that name.." she said. Kate bit back a sigh. Castle had warned her about this. So had Martha, and Captain Montgomery had expressed his concerns as well. Ryan and Esposito had gotten more than their fair share of laughs out of it.

Taking a breath, she once again started to ask the woman about her friend. They had actually gotten somewhere when all of a sudden the woman's eyes widened. Kate, thinking she had remembered something important, asked her what was wrong.

"Ohmigod...you're THE Kate Beckett! The one who snagged Richard Castle out from under everyone!" She quickly went to a bookshelf and returned with the last two Derrek Storm novels. "Between now and when you come back here, you know, to see if I remember anything...do you think you could get these signed for me?"

Kate had to keep herself from snapping at the woman, but she silently vowed no such restraint on a snickering Ryan behind her.

**Stop and Stare- One Republic**

As big as New York City was, Rick really hadn't expected to see Kate out and about town after she had thrown him out on his ass when he had dug up her mothers case, much less more than once. But he did. He'd seen her three times with each of her partners on one case or another, and another time leaving a store with a couple of bags.

He didn't like what he saw.

Already slim to begin with, she _really_ didn't need to lose the weight, but from the way her clothes hung on her...they were almost baggy. One time he had been close enough to see the tired, dark circles under her eyes. While that worried him, it was nothing compared to what he saw in her eyes.

Or rather, what he didn't see. They were dull. So dull. There was no spark there. Nothing. Her once expressive, bright eyes now seemed like empty pits.

He had to fix this.

**A Man Holding On – Ty Herdenon**

He didn't know if he could get through to the end of this.

Hell, he didn't even know if he could make it down the isle without breaking down, much less the end of the ceremony and the reception.

Rick turned towards the entryway as the music began to play, and watched as his youngest daughter started down the isle with her basket of flowers. Unbidden, his mind fast forward twenty-odd years to a much older Amy Castle on her own wedding day. He shook his head, trying to clear the image. It was too much, too fast.

A soft touch on his shoulder drew his attention, and he looked over to Alexis. An image to behold, she was one of the beautiful things he had ever seen.

"You ready for this?" She asked softly. The last bridesmaid had begun her march.

"No." He answered honestly.

**If you See Him/If You See Her – Reba McEntire; Brooks & Dunn**

Javier Esposito groaned as he fell onto his couch and took a long swig from his beer bottle. He was bone tired, and not just from chasing a former track star down 4 blocks of New York City.

For the past few weeks he and Ryan had been hopelessly caught between Kate Beckett and Richard Castle. It was starting to take its toll. When Castle found new information on Johanna Beckett's case, all hell broke loose. He had watched helplessly as Kate fell deeper into a darkness where no one could reach her, and wondered if she'd ever be whole again. He listened as Castle sulked and brooded in an ultimate internal conflict. Kate deserved..._needed _to know what had happened to her mother. At what cost, though? Was it truly worth what Kate was becoming?

Finishing off his first beer and heading back to the kitchen for another (why hadn't he just gotten two in the first place?), he thought about locking the two up together. He wondered if anyone actually knew where the key was to that old back closet at the precinct.

**Beautiful Dreamer – Floyd Cramer**

The room was silent, save for the small pink music box on the dresser as it softly chimed out its lullaby to lull the little girl to sleep. A present from her sister, little Amy adored it. Alexis had given the youngster the small box, and carefully shown her how to twist the knob on the bottom so that music would play.

After that, Amy absolutely HAD to have that in order to sleep. She also managed to play it any time she could get away with it. Rick had mocked complained to Alexis when she had dug out old toy and presented it to her sibling. Hadn't he gotten enough of that thing when she herself had been young? It had taken years for that particular ear-worm to go away.

Nevertheless, when Rick passed the Amy's room at about the time the box had winded itself down, he stepped in and gave it a few more twists, then leaned over to kiss the top of her head before continuing on his way.

**Thank You For the Music – ABBA**

Rick and Kate had gone on a rare night out, so it was just Martha and her grandsons for the evening. Vincent had managed to wear himself out earlier, and she had just put him to sleep. Returning down the hall, she cocked her head as she heard the sound of her piano from downstairs. Picking up her pace, she went down to see what John had gotten himself into.

As she turned the corner, she stopped and smiled softly. The three year old had pulled himself up on the piano bench and was softly tapping the keys, occasionally giggling at certain notes. As he began to enjoy himself more, his 'playing' became slightly more enthusiastic. Realizing what was about to happen, Martha pulled herself from her musings and went to sit beside him before he could bang on the keys and create a noise that could wake his brother.

"Like that, do you?" She asked. John looked up at her and nodded his head, hair falling in his eyes. Smiling, Martha played a basic C scale, watching him as he watched her hand. When she finished, she was surprised when he reached for the keys and made an admirable attempt to copy what she did. He frowned when he couldn't get the crossover, but just moved his whole hand to finish off the scale. John's grin was wide when he looked back up to his grandmother.

Delighted at this new discovery, Martha pulled her grandson into her lap, taking his hands in hers and proceeded to teach him the first section of 'Chop Sticks'

**A Different Light – Doug Stone**

Rick blinked as he watched Kate saunter out of the elevator towards the front door of the penthouse apartment. While he had long since grown used to this change in personality, sometimes it still took him by surprise when she switched so damn fast.

That's why she continued to use 'Beckett' while at work, he mused. Barely two hours ago, he had watched from the other side of the interrogation mirror as she railed into two witnesses who's negligence had caused a young man's death. She laid fact after fact in front of them, until they were a quivering mass of remorse and tears. Her eyes had been hard when, shortly after she, her partners and a few other officers went to a location to take down the main perpetrator of another case they had been working on.

And yet now, there was little trace of that woman in the one who was waiting on him down the hall. This woman was relaxed with a glint and light in her eyes that was rarely seen by anyone else. This was Kate Castle. His wife, his lover, the mother of his son, his best friend. He remembers clearly the first time she finally let her barriers fall completely in his presence, and he was blown away by what he found. Even now, the transformation still amazed him sometime. It wasn't that he loved one more or less than the other, oh no. Both of these two together made up the woman that Rick Castle loved with a fierce intensity he hadn't realized possible.

"Hey, Kitten, you coming or not?" her voice snapped him from his thoughts. He narrowed his eyes at the mostly despised nickname.

"Right behind you, _Katie_."

**How Could This Happen to Me?- Simple Plan**

Kate stared out the windows of the ER waiting room, eyes unseeing, as she replayed the events from hours earlier over and over in her head. What the HELL had happened? Castle had tagged along on a bust, and unlike other times he had stayed in the car with minimal protest, choosing instead to busy himself with fixing the car stereo clock. Daylight savings had ended weeks earlier, but the cars display claimed otherwise.

Confident that he wasn't going anywhere, she proceeded to do her job. But the suspect ran, slipping through an exit that neither she nor her partners knew about and proceeded through the alley. Spotting a man alone in a vehicle, not paying the least bit attention to his surroundings, the perp jerked open the door of the sedan and bodily dragged a very startled Richard Castle out and demanded the keys. When he figured out that Castle didn't have them, he growled in frustration and put two bullets in his chest before taking off again. His delay, fortunately, had cost him precious time that allowed Ryan to catch up to him and take him out. From that point on, though, was very much a blur as Kate recalled finding Castle on the ground bleeding, trying desperately to hang on to what shred of life he had left.

Kate's grip tightened on a chair as she recalled the other times. How many times had he ignored her orders, tagging along right behind her only to come out of any number of close calls unscathed?

Twice Rick had stayed put like he was supposed to. Once it almost cost him, and once it may still. She didn't know what to do.

Kate startled violently when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Spinning around, all her efforts to keep her tears at bay flew out the window when she came face to face with Castle's mother and daughter.


	2. Before

**Like Toy Soldiers – Eminem**

They say some cops could go through their entire career without drawing their weapon. In some places Kate didn't doubt it. In New York City? No way in hell. She wasn't sure why, but when she learned that an older sergeant she admired, one that had been on the force for more than twenty years, had never drawn his gun in the field she admired him a little less and wondered how he managed to pull that one off. Especially when there were months where it seemed like she drew hers almost every other day.

There are also about a half dozen different variants of the adage that says being a cop is mostly paper or desk work with random bits of excitement thrown in for kicks. Kate Beckett is familiar with most of them, but they don't apply to her. Not since her first week out of the Academy and on the beat. She had always managed to come across something. As a beat cop, there were plenty of loud (and sometimes violent) domestic disputes; in three days she had chased four suspects up and down a few blocks of the city. When she transferred to new precincts via promotions and assignment shifts, it didn't take long for her to know the names of the ER staff of the closest hospital.

While she was never considered overly emotional, she had never been afraid to laugh, smile, or when the time called for it, cry. But like so many others in her field, that soon changed. Walls were built and fortified. She had become steeled against the harsh words and insults from the disorderly public, the curses from the angered wives she kept at bay as her partner led the husband away. Against the hurried businessmen as they attempted to talk their way out of one cite or another, and eventually, against the bodies. Against the stories that went with them. They were almost always heartbreaking.

But even the most fortified walls become cracked after time. Sometimes, it's all she can do to keep it down until she reaches the safety of her apartment, where she can break down away from prying eyes. Sometimes she takes it out on the stationary training bag set up in the corner of her bedroom. On the rare occasion, when something particularly gruesome and shattering comes up, she merely collapses on her bed and cries herself to sleep.

The end result is always the same though. The next morning she rises from her bed, takes a quick shower, and prepares for her day, her walls firmly back in place. And she goes on.

**Mockingbird - Eminem**

Rick jerked awake with a start, and looked around bleary-eyed before setting on the clock. It was just past two in the morning. He had just gotten to sleep only a couple hours before, what woke him up now? At that moment, he heard the sound of a high pitched wail from down the hall.

Oh.

Alexis rarely slept through the night. Even though it was a far cry from a month before when her hours were backwards and she slept during the day and was awake at all hours of the night, the infant still woke someone up at least once or twice a night.

Noticing that the other side of the bed was empty, he figured Meredith had gotten her, so he turned over and tried to go back to sleep.

Except the crying didn't stop.

After a couple more minutes he finally decided to get up and try to give Meredith a hand. Alexis had always responded better to him, anyway.

However, he wasn't expecting her to still be in the crib. He didn't have a chance to dwell on that, though, as Alexis' cries picked up as soon as she caught sight of her daddy. He immediately picked her up, and was relieved when she quieted almost instantly. He took her to the rocking chair, whispering comforting words of mostly nonsense as he rocked her back to sleep.

It wasn't until much later in the morning when he found Meredith's hastily written note on the kitchen counter. An opportunity had popped up, and she absolutely _could not_ miss it. She had taken the red eye to her destination, not even sparing a good-bye to her husband, and not much of one to her child, either. With a surge of anger he rarely felt he crumbled the note and tossed it in the direction of the trashcan.

It was only a couple years after that when he received the divorce papers in the mail. He was surprised they didn't come sooner. Sometimes he had wondered why he didn't start the process himself; after all, they had barely seen each other recently. He couldn't understand how she could just up and leave Alexis and him at the drop of a hat, like they weren't important. She couldn't understand how he couldn't understand that this was her life. There were _so_ many opportunities waiting. Once again, his mostly contained anger reared its ugly head, and Richard had gotten in her face and told her that the toddler attempting to eat pudding in the high chair was her life now. That's how these things work. You get married, have a child, and priorities change. Meredith had left in a huff. Two weeks later to the day, he got the papers.


End file.
